A Case of Mistaken Identity!
by HyperMint
Summary: Team Rocket messes up again, this time leading our heroes on a search for Pikachu. In the process, they meet Lys, a friendlier people doctor, who helps them find their friend.


A Case of Mistaken Identity!

Summary: After "Holy Matrimony!" Ash and the gang meet up with another, friendlier, people doctor. That is, of course, after Team Rocket causes another problem for the group.

AN: I feel so ashamed. *hangs head* I was dragged kicking and screaming into the wonderful world of Pokemon back when the opening week for "Mewtwo Strikes Back" was still in existence. Needless to say, it's been 11 years and the obsession is still going strong. Unfortunately, this particular story is sort of needed for the other stories I still need to finish. Time to figure out how to get the words flowing again.

Oh, yeah, look. I know that Pikachu is apparently a male, but for some reason, I seem to like it as a female, so there you go.

Disclaimer: Whoever owns it, owns it and a lot of Pokemon fans bow to them, but that's my opinion.

***

Prologue

As our heroes, Ash, Pikachu, Misty, and Brock, continue on their way to Cinnabar Island and the Volcano badge, they end up in yet another forest…

"Oh, Ash!" Misty growled at her friend. "Next time, _I _will be the one picking our directions!"

"Er, Misty?" Ash raised a hand as his partner, best friend, and first Pokemon, Pikachu, rode on his left shoulder. "I didn't pick the path this time."

Misty was about to open her mouth again, when she suddenly remembered that was exactly what happened. "Well," she sighed, deflating, "I guess I'll let you off the hook this time…"

"You know," the last member and oldest commented as he entered the clearing, face buried in the guidebook, "I could've sworn we would've been within a few miles of -"

"YOU!"

Brock jumped and dropped the book as he was faced with an angry, mallet-wielding redhead.

"Now, Misty," he held up his hands in a placating manner, "I think we should calm down and not be so hasty…"

"I'll show you about being hasty!"

As Ash and Pikachu watched with exasperation, a giant hand suddenly appeared, snatching a startled Pikachu.

"Pika!" She cried out.

"Pikachu!" Ash yelled, his friends pausing in their argument to see what was going on.

"What happened?" Brock asked his friend as the trio ran after the fast retreating arm with a struggling Pikachu.

"I don't know!" Ash yelled back.

Bursting into a smaller clearing, Ash, Brock, and Misty skidded to a stop when they saw the hand retreated into a very familiar Meowth shaped robot.

"Hahaha!" A familiar laugh rang out and the three groaned as their attention was drawn to the transparent belly where three familiar figures smirked at them.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"Make that double!"

Jessie and James started the ever dreaded motto in their usual poses; her standing with her left fist on her left hip while throwing her right arm out, her head following her outstretched arm. James, kneeling on his right knee with an elbow propped up on the left and his free hand holding a red rose.

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all peoples within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light."

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth, that's right!"

As they finished, Jessie and James, having moved into the shape of an 'R', along with Meowth, who jumped on Jessie's shoulder, looked to the twerps only to see the trio of them sipping tea and basically ignoring them.

"HEY!" Jessie yelled at them.

"Did you hear something?" Brock looked up at the sky.

"Nope," Misty answered.

"Don't ignore us!" James shouted. "We're talking to you over here!"

"Well, then, let's stop talkin' and start with the walkin'," Meowth suggested.

At that, the trio shot up, the tea disappearing as they did so.

"Oh no, you don't," Ash growled at them. "Give back Pikachu!"

"Not on your life, Twerp," James stuck his tongue out at them.

'That's it,' Ash thought, reaching to his Poke Balls and extracting Squirtle's Ball. "Squirtle! Help get Pikachu back!"

He tossed the ball into the air and it opened, emitting a white light. A few seconds later, Squirtle was ready to help his trainer rescue the other Pokemon.

"Water Gun!" Ash ordered. Squirtle immediately obeyed and a stream of water shot out of its mouth.

"Ha! Is that all you have?" Jessie taunted as the water harmlessly splashed onto the waterproof robot.

Ash gritted his teeth and called out Bulbasaur and Pidgeotto to help.

"Ugh," Misty shook her head as attack after attack failed. "I don't think this is going to work."

"Maybe not without Onix," Brock grinned as he let the huge Pokemon out of its own ball. "Onix, stop that robot!"

"Oh, please," Jessie scoffed as she turned toward her teammates. "That won't work, either."

"Uh, actually," Meowth gulped nervously.

"That one could be quite the problem," James smiled nervously.

"Wait," Jessie slowly turned back, just in time to see the big rock type Pokemon smash into them.

"Now, Squirtle!" Ash saw the opportunity, "Water Gun!"

This time, it worked. When Onix smashed the robot open, it exposed a lot of electrical wiring, which most definitely wasn't waterproof. As soon as the water hit, the wires short-circuited and blew up in an impressive explosion.

Team Rocket cleared the smoke, as well as the tree line, and flew off way into the distance with only their voices carrying out into the wind: "**Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again**!"

As they disappeared from sight, Brock managed to spot a yellow object fly in the opposite direction.

"There!" He pointed it out to Ash and Misty. "Pikachu flew that way!"

"C'mon!" Ash recalled his Pokemon and took off after Brock and Misty, who had a head start. 'Hold on, Buddy,' he thought as he soon surpassed his friends. 'I'm coming for you.'

But as the group disappeared from sight, they never noticed that there was a second yellow object that had flown into a nearby bush.

***

Chapter 1

"Pikachu!"

A brunette entered the clearing a half hour after Team Rocket was blown away, with a hand cupping a side of her mouth while her free arm was at her side and clutching a collar-like strip of fabric in a nice teal color.

"Pikachu, where are you?" She yelled out.

Adjusting her glasses, her grey eyes darted here and there, finally registering the remains of another Team Rocket loss.

'What in the world happened here?' She thought to herself, coming a little closer to investigate.

A few minutes later, she sighed and pulled one of her two ponytails. "I have no time to kill around here," she berated herself. "I need to find Pikachu before the storm hits."

Looking up, she saw that the previously sunny day was slowly getting obscured by ominous looking clouds. Distantly, she heard thunder and it was only a matter of time before lightening and rain made themselves known.

Sighing, she was about to turn back around when she heard a rustling, followed by a weak "Pikapi…"

"Pikachu?" The brunette immediately rushed over and parted the bush in question. "Oh…"

The Pikachu she found looked back at her in a sort of daze. Her fur was matted in dust and other debris from her impromptu flight and she most likely had a concussion.

Slowly, the strange female approached her and gently picked her up.

"Now, now," the brunette cooed softly. "Were you involved in whatever happened here?"

Pikachu stretched out to see over the girl's shoulder. "Pika? Pika pi chu pi…"

"I may not know what all happened, but I do know that you need to get to the Pokemon Center," she bit her lip. "The question is: are you a wild or trained?"

"Pika," was her answer.

"Oh, you have a trainer?" The brunette grinned as the Pikachu in her arms nodded slowly. "Well, alright then! We'll have to track… her? No… him? Alright, we'll have to track him down after we get you looked over. But even then…"

Pikachu didn't have to follow her rescuer's gaze because she could feel the steady build up of electrical energy in the atmosphere. Her thoughts turned toward her trainer, Pikapi, as well as Misty and Brock.

The brunette suddenly looked down at her and grinned. "I'm sure your trainer is out looking for you, but I hope he'll wait for a more thorough search until after the storm passes." Seeing the injured Pokemon start to struggle weakly, she tightened her grip and shook her head. "I don't like not having Nurse Joy not look at you, but I would feel better knowing that there's nothing serious wrong with you. And…"

Without warning, she reached over and squeezed Pikachu's left paw. Backing off at the pained cry, she nodded solemnly. "Just as I thought. Felt like a sprain, but I would like another opinion. Well, one used to taking care of Pokemon."

At the wary look, she shook her head at herself. "Sorry, where are my manners?"

"Pi?" Pikachu blinked and tilted her head. The brunette settled on the ground, setting the mouse on her crossed legs.

"My name is Dr. Alyssa Johnson, but you can call me 'Lys' since all my other friends do," she gently shook a paw in greeting. "How do you do?"

"Now," Lys quickly got back up, balancing Pikachu in the crook of her left arm. "We need to get going. Oh, almost forgot," she reached down and retrieved the 'collar' that she had set down after having discovered the injured mouse. "See this?" Lys held up the 'collar' Pikachu's level.

"Pi ka chu…" She slowly shied away from it.

"Huh? Oh no," Lys grinned slightly. "This is actually for my own Pikachu. See, I was fixing this buckle here and something must have caught his attention. I looked up and he was gone, so I've been looking all over for him ever since just after breakfast."

Letting her new charge digest the information, Lys glanced at the sky and went back in the direction that she had come. "We need to get going," she informed Pikachu.

"Pika?" She got Lys's attention and tilted her head.

"Erm, I don't exactly know what the question is…" Lys shrugged a shoulder.

Thinking about it, Pikachu lit upon a thermometer in the pocket she was held against. "Pi chu," she gestured to it. "Ka pi? Cha pi ka chu pi?"

"Well, I happen to be a doctor on people."

Pikachu thought about it and decided that she was much nicer than the other people doctor that the gang had encountered not too long ago. Settling in slightly, Pikachu felt the telltale shape of a Poke Ball through Lys's jacket. Poking at it, she gave Lys a questioning look.

"Oh, that's Oddish," she smiled. "It sort of adopted me a few months ago and I sort of caught it. Only thing is, I'm not exactly a trainer, per se…"

Lys continued to talk to Pikachu as the pair continued toward Pastendale City, which was just an hour from the clearing. Well, an hour if you went in the right direction that is…

***

"Pikachu!" Ash yelled as he, Misty, and Brock continued to search for the mouse. It was an hour later and none of them thought to give a notice to the weather and the coming storm.

"I'll look this way," Brock turned to the right, calling Zubat as he did so to help look for Pikachu.

"I'll go this way," Misty kept on the path and she soon disappeared from sight also.

Ash kept to the left and called Pidgeotto back out to fly up ahead.

Twenty minutes later, Brock and Misty came looking for him.

"Ash," Misty caught his attention and pointed upwards. "It's getting ready to storm. We really need to get to a town."

Ash grinded his teeth together. He knew she was right, but this was Pikachu they were thinking about leaving out in the storm. A Pikachu that he didn't want anything to happen to, who may have been injured…

Deciding to sneak away at the first opportunity, he turned in their direction and, for some reason, looked up above him. Only to see a familiarly shaped tail.

"Pikachu!" Ash immediately started climbing the tree, only dimly aware that the other two rushed to the base.

A rumble of thunder could be heard as Ash pulled himself onto the branch that Pikachu was on. A few feet away from the end of the branch, he spotted some greenery thick enough to hide his friend and scooted as close as he dared.

"Chuka?" Ash blinked as he peered into the little bush and found himself nose to nose with Pikachu. Pulling back a bit, he blinked again as the information registered that Pikachu was a bit smaller. 'That means…'

"Hey," Ash called down to the others. "This is a different Pikachu!"

***

Lys and Pikachu could see the city of which they were on the skirts of. Pikachu had a clear view of the sky and she looked up at it with worry for her trainer and friends. Suddenly, the thunder seemed much closer than it used to be and Lys winced.

"I hope Pikachu is going to be alright in this," she told the one in her arms with concern. "He doesn't like thunder at all."

A few minutes later, they were passing Officer Jenny's police station and Lys, looking at the window, suddenly stopped.

"Oh no! I forgot all about that!" She exclaimed with a stricken face. Pikachu curiously looked at the notice then back up at Lys, only to find her looking back at the mouse and biting her lip. "I think I'm gonna need to put this on you after all," she pulled the 'collar' out of her pocket. "See that?" She let Pikachu see the piece of paper. "I can't just say that I've found you and we're looking for your trainer. They might take you away."

"Pika?!" Wide brown eyes stared into her grey.

"Yeah," she sighed and continued to the Pokemon Center. "See, I've only been here two months and they only put that into effect two weeks ago. It says that any type of law enforcement is to take any unclaimed Pokemon to a center miles away. I don't know what happens to them there, but I can't stand the thought of Pokemon being taken away… Well, unless it's for new trainers…"

When they were in sight of the Center, which was located near the entrance of a park, Lys ducked behind some trees. "Well, let's get this over with."

"Pi ka," she shook her head rapidly from side to side. "Pika chu pi pi ka!"

"I know you don't want it," Lys sat cross-legged on the ground and placed Pikachu in her lap. "But if you really want to see your trainer again, we're gonna gave to pretend you're my Pikachu. And besides, everyone around here is used to seeing me with a Pikachu and there'll be questions if I come back without him. Anyway, even if he was with me, I would have to have put you in a Poke Ball and I know you don't want that especially since I'm not your trainer. I have to do this to you in order to get you back to your trainer, do you know where I'm coming from? I swear, I just want my Pikachu back, but I'll put this on you if it means that you can get to go back to your own trainer. I don't want to have to meet him before I leave and have him asking questions about you, only to find out that you were taken away by mistake. Please, just trust me? I promise that I'll get you back to your trainer as soon as possible, but until we have some idea of where he is, I will need you to do your best to trust me on this because I know the stakes and I have the experience to keep you safe. I may be a doctor for humans, but I do like Pokemon. All of my friends have Pokemon and my two friends, Jay and Le Phillips, are actually on their own Pokemon Journeys. Can you trust me? At least until we get you back where you belong?"

"Pika…" The yellow mouse still had reservations about it, but there was one source that would at least ease some of her anxiety about taking orders from a virtual stranger. Carefully standing, Pikachu tapped the hidden Poke Ball and a white light suddenly streamed out of Lys's shirt. The light landed on the ground and took the shape of an Oddish.

The light dispersing, Oddish blinked around before tilting to the side at his trainer in confusion. "Oddish?"

Lys blinked at first Oddish, then Pikachu before getting the message. "I see. Well, Oddish? Could you do me a favor and talk to this Pikachu here? I know that it is from another trainer, but we need your help to get it back to him. Will you help?"

"Oddish odd!" The blue Pokemon bounced up and down excitedly at the prospect of helping the doctor that had taken such good care of him, even though she didn't like participating in battles. When Oddish or Pikachu, or any of her other Pokemon for that matter, wanted to battle, then they would make their wishes known and they would be handed off to one of Lys's friends for some training and the subsequent battle. Even though all her Pokemon were content with this arrangement, more and more they would wish that she were the one giving the attack orders and not the one cheering for them. The only problem was how to go about setting the events in motion.

"Alright!" Lys grinned before setting the mouse gently down in front of him and laying the 'collar' down between them. "I'll just give you guys some privacy. Oddish, it's paw is sprained and it might have a concussion, so if you think this can wait, come and get me please."

After that, she took a few steps away and turned her back on them.

Pikachu made sure she wasn't eavesdropping, no matter if she could understand them or not, and looked at her fellow Pokemon. This Oddish, though, was wearing a headband made with the same material as the 'collar'.

"Pika, pikachu ka chu pi…"

A few minutes later, a reluctantly 'collared' Pikachu was carried in by a satisfied Lys. "Alright," she said. "Now is when you're going to have to start trusting me."

***

Chapter 2

"What do you mean it's a different Pikachu?" Misty yelled back up at him. "And how could you tell?"

"It's smaller than Pikachu, but only a little bit," Ash studied the scared mouse in front of him. He smiled reassuringly at it. "My name is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town. I'm going to be a Pokemon Master some day. Sorry for scaring you, but I'm trying to find my own Pikachu. We got separated by Team Rocket's explosion and I'm worried about her."

He blinked. "Are you a girl?" He grinned as the mouse shook its head furiously. "A boy then." He nodded to himself. "Well, let's get you down because it is getting ready to storm big time and we don't want to be up here when it starts."

"Pi ka…" He hesitated slightly. The decision was made for him when a clap of thunder sounded unbelievably close.

Ash almost fell out of the tree when the Pikachu jumped into his arms. Steadying himself, he looked at the quivering ball of yellow in his embrace. "Guess you don't like thunder, then, huh? Alright, let's go down and I'll introduce you to Misty and Brock."

After a harrowing descent, both Pokemon and Trainer were on the ground. Ash held the mouse a little closer after a clap of thunder quickly followed another.

"C'mon, you two," Brock said, turning to lead the group away. "I passed by a house earlier. We can take shelter over there until the storm passes."

The Pikachu could've cared less. All he wanted to do was get out of the storm and back into his 'trainer's' arms. As the three humans ran toward the house, Pikachu thought about the one he called trainer even though she never actually battled with him.

As he got lost in thought, Ash kept glancing down at him as he ran. Soon, rain started pouring on them and Ash did his best to keep his new charge dry.

Sure enough, Brock was right and the old house, shack really, came into view.

"Doesn't look like anyone lives here anymore," Misty commented as she took a cursory glance. "But the roof still looks good and there doesn't look like there's any problem with the walls…"

Brock found that the door took some doing to get open, but they piled inside when it swung open with a squeak.

Calling out Vulpix, Brock saw that there was wood by the fireplace near the door and soon had a nice fire going to drive away the cold temperature. When the place was warm enough to branch out and explore, Brock found that the kitchen was fairly decent in the spices and tableware department. He also found pots and pans there as well, all a little worse for ware, but useable nonetheless.

Misty found some blankets and pillows to put on the floor along with their sleeping bags, which was decided that with the storm at full force and everything it was safer sleeping in the shack for the night.

As the two set about fixing the place up for the night, Ash sat next to the fireplace with the Pikachu he found. Brock had managed to get permission from it to do a cursory exam while it stayed in Ash's arms and announced that the Pikachu was still a bit shaken from the experience with Team Rocket, but was otherwise alright. Ash winced slightly as claws dug into his forearm while thunder still echoed in the air.

"Don't like thunder, huh?" Ash smiled reassuringly at him. "I hope my Pikachu is alright. We've never really been apart like this since we met a few months ago."

Pikachu was regaled with the story of how Ash and his Pikachu met until it was time for dinner.

Once everyone had a plate in front of them, Brock studied the Pikachu they were taking care of. "I don't think it's a wild Pikachu, Ash."

"Huh?" He picked his head up. "What do you mean?"

"It's too comfortable around people," Misty pointed out as she also studied the Pikachu, who was content to eat next to Ash, who was unknowingly standing in for Pikachu's other trainer because there was something about the boy that made Pikachu trust him. "And I think it likes you."

"Yeah, I _am _going to be a Pokemon Master, after all," Ash puffed up importantly. "But it's a boy. He told me."

"I bet he did," Brock smiled as he thought of their lost friend and her uncanny connection to Ash. "I don't think I introduced myself properly," he looked to the listening Pokemon. "My name is Brock and I aim to be a Pokemon Breeder. I'm also from the Pewter City Gym."

"My name is Misty," the redhead grinned at the mouse. "I'm from the Cerulean City Gym and I'm trying to be the ultimate Water Pokemon Trainer."

"Pika," he nodded to the two of them before letting out a sigh as he went back to his food. He really missed his Chuka and wanted to be back with her. Rubbing his neck, he missed his necklace that identified Lys's Pokemon from all her other friends' Pokemon. The group of people put identifying headbands or other such accessories on their Pokemon to tell which one was theirs and also to know which gender that Pokemon was. It really came in handy at times, they had learned to realize.

"So, do you really have a trainer?" Ash looked down at him.

He was greeted with excited chattering of which he could understand that the mouse really adored his trainer and would not hear of anything bad being spoken of them.

"Wow," Misty smiled. "He really loves his trainer."

"Yeah, doesn't it seem so?" Brock nodded.

After a few more minutes, Brock took the guidebook back out and tried to find a near by town. "Well, if I'm right," the others looked up at his voice. "Pastendale City is close, but Destren Town is closer. It's just down the road from here."

Pikachu nodded thoughtfully. He'd heard of Destren Town from his Chuka and knew of the rule against wild Pokemon in effect there as well. He gulped as he realized that there was no way of telling the trio about it and also that he had absolutely no way to identify himself as belonging to someone.

"Well, we'll just have to go to Destren Town and tell Officer Jenny that we have a Pokemon that needs to find his trainer," Misty nodded in decision. "But as soon as the storm clears up."

Pikachu sighed as he watched the three take out their night clothes and other things that they used before sleeping. He remembered that his Chuka liked having him and the other Pokemon help her around the Center that was called the Med Bay by everyone as well as her apartment and suddenly Misty found herself with a small assistant as she spread the blankets and pillows around while the boys went down the small corridor leading to a bedroom to change.

"Well, thank you," she giggled as she watched him drag a pillow to Brock's sleeping bag. "Ash's Pikachu helps, too."

As soon as Misty came back from changing into her own clothes, the three and Pikachu settled in for the night. Ash lay down in his bag by one side of the fireplace and stared at the ceiling in dismay. 'Pikachu, I hope you're alright,' he thought. A half hour after the other two had gone to sleep, he was about to drop off when he felt something walk onto his leg. Looking down, he smiled slightly at the yellow mouse as he made himself comfortable at the foot of the bag.

"Goodnight," he told it. "I hope we find your trainer tomorrow."

"Pika chu," he agreed, laying down. Within seconds, both were asleep.

***

"There, that wasn't so bad was it?" Lys carried her charge into her apartment. "Let's get you something to eat and give you some Pokemon happy pills before we call it a day. Though, I have to say that if I didn't know any better, I would've sworn you actually _were _my Pikachu."

"Pi," she nodded at the compliment of a job well done.

It really wasn't all that hard like she first thought it would be. All Pikachu had to do was pretend she was with her trainer and that she actually knew that Ash would be back to get her. When the girls entered the center, Nurse Joy did her fussing over Pikachu and Lys played her part of the chagrined trainer well. Pikachu had been carried out in Lys's arms and they were the perfect trainer and Pokemon, even if the mouse did say so herself.

Coming down off the rush of being the 'rule breakers', Pikachu turned her attention to her temporary surroundings. The apartment was a comfy, if Spartan, little haven that was mostly in soft greens and the furniture wasn't above the essentials with a beanbag or two. The same was said for the kitchen and dining area. Besides those rooms and the living room, a little hallway branched off to the left of the dining room that led to a bathroom and bedroom.

"Not much, I know," Lys set her gently on a Pokemon sized pillow. "But I only have another month or so left until I go back home. Then I'll need to go back out at least a month later."

Pikachu settled in on the pillow and sniffed at it. Blinking, she sniffed at it again and frowned at the strangely familiar scent. For the life of her, though, she couldn't remember where she could have possibly smelled it before.

Shelving the mystery for later, she looked up to see a clear view into the kitchen and Lys staring at her thoughtfully. "Well, my Pikachu likes to have some apples before bed if he was feeling off. Do you want some?"

Smiling at the affirmative, she chose three and swiftly had them cut up into small pieces in no time. Then, she cut them into cubes. Carrying the plate into the sitting room, she caught Pikachu's questioning look and smiled slightly.

"They go down easier, or that's what he's always insisted on," she shrugged as she placed the plate down for her charge to have easy access to.

As she went back to get something for herself, Pikachu used her good paw to swipe an apple cube from the plate into her mouth. Chewing it, she decided that the other Pikachu had the right idea and slowly started demolishing the other cubes. By the time she was done, she looked up and blushed as she spotted Lys grinning at her over her sandwich. "Pretty good, huh? Maybe I'll tell your trainer about this when I see him."

"Pika chu," she smiled slightly as she thought of her trainer. But since Brock was the cook of the group, he would probably be the one fixing the apples. As much as she loved her Pikapi, she felt a pang of longing as she thought of the oldest member of the group. She sighed as thoughts inevitably turned to Misty.

"What's wrong?"

Pikachu's ears drooped as she looked at her temporary trainer. "Pika, chu ka pi pika pi ka chu pi ka pi…"

"Erm," Lys sweat dropped. "Okay…" Studying the mouse's depressed demeanor, she tilted her head. "Hey, I was wondering, were you and your trainer alone?"

"Pi," she shook her head slowly since it still sort of hurt. Nurse Joy had said that it was just a good knock to the head and it would be a while before the headache went away. Lys had, it seemed, fully relaxed at that.

"Ah, so you had others with you. How many?"

Holding up her paw, she immediately did a peace sign.

"Two?" Lys grinned at the pose. "Did your trainer teach you that?" She laughed at the beam.

***

Chapter 3

Pikachu was dreaming that she was back with her trainer and friends. They were all happy to see her.

Frowning slightly, she heard a bit of pounding before a door slammed shut. Blinking awake, she found herself again in the sitting room. The night before, Lys had taken her to her room and, when she woke up the first time, she had wondered how she had gotten back to her pillow on the sofa when Lys had come bursting in and explaining that Pikachu was always the last thing she saw out the door and always the first thing coming home. Understanding that it was a sort of tradition, she had dutifully watched her scramble around and had gone back to sleep at the click of the door.

Now, Lys was leaning against the door, breathing heavily. "Sorry, did I wake you?"

"Pi pi ka…" She shrugged. She was getting hungry anyway.

"Yeah," Lys gasped. "Sorry, it's just that somehow someone saw me, er, us come out of the Pokemon Center last night and asked after you. Now, the entire hospital wants you to come in tomorrow because, technically, you're my 'patient', and I'm not allowed to leave you alone just yet. I'm really sorry, I didn't think it would cause such a big deal, but I'm going to have to take you to work with me."

"Pika," she nodded. Personally, she didn't see a problem with it. The sooner they found her trainer, the better.

***

"It should be up here somewhere," Brock muttered to himself as he consulted his guidebook as his friends trailed behind him, both sweat dropping at him.

"So, Pikachu," Misty turned to the mouse in her friend's arms. "Have you ever been down this way?"

Tilting his head, he thought about it and slowly shook his head as he couldn't bring up a memory of actually being in the town itself. He'd heard about from his Chuka and others that they had come in contact with since their arrival, but that was as far as it went.

"There it is!"

Ash and Misty immediately sped up to stop next to their friend at the turn in the road.

All of them just looked at the small town and grinned at each other. Small it was, though, busy. A few buildings were clustered together near the center of town.

"C'mon," Brock led the way. "The Pokemon Center is just this side of town and Officer Jenny's office isn't too far away."

"Where do we go first?" Misty asked. "I'd like to get all my Pokemon checked out, but we really do need to get Pikachu back to where he belongs."

"We'll just have to stop by to see Officer Jenny, first," Brock said with hearts in his eyes, much to the confusion of Pikachu and the embarassment of Ash and Misty.

Once they had made their way to the blue haired officer's headquarters, they had to wait as they had a few people ahead of them.

"Pika chu…"

Ash looked down at the Pokemon in his arms and smiled slightly. "Don't worry, Pikachu. Before you know it, all these people will have gotten what they wanted and we'll have found your…"

As Pikachu looked up at his temporary trainer to see what the problem was, Misty and Brock finally made their way to Officer Jenny.

"Oh, Officer Jenny," Brock began, only for Misty to whack him with her mallet. He went down with swirls in his eyes and a goofy grin on his face as a vein appeared on Misty's temple.

Officer Jenny smiled, a bit confused, but said, "What can I help you folks with today?"

As Brock returned to his normal self, Misty said, "Well, see, yesterday, before the storm, there was an accident and my friend's Pikachu-"

Suddenly, Ash appeared with the smaller Pikachu on his shoulder, both with hands behind their heads and a nervous grin on their faces. "He was almost kidnapped by Team Rocket, so please keep an eye out for them, Officer Jenny. Hey! Look at the time! Well, Misty and Brock, me and Pikachu really, really want to get to the Pokemon Center so we can get to training for our next gym battle."

Ash hauled Brock and Misty after him as he called back to the dumbstruck officer, "Sorry about that, Officer Jenny, but we really gotta go! See you!"

"Pika chu!" He waved a handkerchief at her from atop Ash's hat before Ash sped on down the road with his friends, leaving a trail of dust in his wake.

"That was different," Officer Jenny blinked before someone else got her attention and she forgot about them.

***

"Ash!" Misty yelled when they finally skid to a stop just inside the nearly empty Pokemon Center. "What was that about?! We were just about to tell Officer Jenny that we need to-"

The black haired trainer immediately clamped a hand over her mouth as Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and looked around quickly before picking a hallway and shooting down the length of it, not needing to look back to see Ash following behind with his hand still over the redhead's mouth and an equally baffled Brock two steps behind.

Spotting an empty room, Pikachu dove in and the other three piled in, Ash checking the hallway before slamming the door shut and locking it quickly.

"Ash," Brock said slowly. "What's going on?"

"We can't tell Officer Jenny, or Nurse Joy for that matter, about my Pikachu and this one," Ash told them as Pikachu jumped back on his shoulder. "They don't know he isn't my Pikachu and they aren't gonna know he's not my Pikachu unless I tell them and I'm not gonna tell them anything, because I don't want to have to meet his trainer only to tell them that I let their Pikachu get taken away-"

"Wait, Ash," Brock held up his hands as Misty started to calm down and listen to what their friend was talking about. "What do you mean? No one is going to take the Pikachu away."

"Yes, they will," Ash refuted. Putting a hand in his pocket, he retracted a piece of paper and gave it to them. "These copies were posted all over the place."

Misty looked over Brock's shoulder and they read the paper that said that any unclaimed Pokemon would therefore be taken to a facility to be given to someone to train them and then they would be given to another trainer.

"But that Pikachu already has a trainer," Misty argued after reading the paper. "Surely they wouldn't do that to a Pokemon trainer or their Pokemon…"

"Misty," Brock read it again and shook his head. "I think Ash may have a point here. It said _any_ unclaimed Pokemon and I think they mean it."

"Pika pika chu," he nodded, letting Ash take his weight.

"Well," Misty sighed, sinking down to the floor. "Now what do we do?"

They were all silent for awhile as they thought about it.

"Well," Ash looked at the mouse on his shoulder. "I'd like to pretend this one is my Pikachu. Yeah," he nodded as the plan started to form. "I'll pretend this Pikachu is my real one and we can go look for his actual trainer ourselves."

Brock nodded. "It's the best we can do right now."

Misty nodded silently. Even though she knew that her younger friend wasn't always this thoughtful, she kept quiet because they knew that Ash was very worried about both getting this Pikachu back to his trainer and getting his own Pikachu back. To be honest, they both were, too. Speaking of Pokemon and Trainers…

"We should tell our other Pokemon about this," Misty suddenly piped up. "I'm sure they know which Pikachu is which by now."

"Good point, Misty," Brock nodded seriously. "We need to make sure that they don't give the secret away."

"Alright," Ash pounded a fist into the palm of his other hand. "First, though, it's almost lunch and we need to check in with Nurse Joy…"

***

Another night passed for Lys, both Pikachus, Ash, Misty, and Brock.

As Ash's Pikachu accompanied Lys to work, the others were still at the Pokemon Center. After doing some planning, the three trainers finally let their Pokemon in on the secret.

After explaining what would happen if the secret wasn't kept, all the attending Pokemon were immediately horrified.

"Squirtle!" The small water Pokemon wrapped his arms around the mouse protectively. "Squirt squirt squirtle!"

"Thanks for your help, Squirtle," Ash beamed as the other Pokemon gathered close to their charge.

"Bulba," Bulbasaur sighed. 'We'll probably never see our friend again.'

"Pika?" He tilted his head as the rest of other Pokemon listened intently, Squirtle still with his arms around his neck. 'What do you mean?'

"Bulbasaur bul ba saurbul ba," he shook his head. 'Well, there's no way to tell our Pikachu from any other one…'

"Pika chu Chuka pi pipi kachu." 'My Lys will help if we could find her. She was sort of behind me when I fell into that hole.'

Their trainers looked on as Bulbasaur answered, Brock tilting his head as he thought.

"Bulbasaur, bulba?" 'But we don't know your trainer, do we?'

"Vulpix, vul vul." 'Now, Bulbasaur, that doesn't have to mean that his trainer would hurt Pikachu.'

"Pika!? Pikachu!" 'What!? She would _never_ hurt a Pokemon!'

"Bulba…" 'She might not realize the situation…'

"Pika pikachu pi ka chupi pichu!" 'She does and she has made sure that trainers knew that!'

"Bulbasaur." 'She may have decided to keep Pikachu for herself.'

"_Pikachu!_" '_Take that back!_' Squirtle instantly let go of the mouse as sparks started to fly from his cheeks at the Plant Pokemon.

"Alright, everybody, calm down," Brock immediately stepped in. "Now, everyone. Until we find this Pikachu's trainer, we need to pretend he has been with us this whole time. Alright?"

Ash took over. "And while we're looking for her and our Pikachu, we'll be training for the battle ahead, alright?"

The Pokemon agreed and Ash turned to the Pikachu. "You can sit back and watch if you want."

The mouse shrugged and followed everyone out to the training field. "Pika," he sighed. Then smiled. _He_ knew his Chuka well and, if past situations stayed true, he would bet anything that she had the missing Pikachu. Now, all they really had to do was find one of them and the other wouldn't be far behind.

***

Chapter 4

Lys sighed as she and Pikachu slumped against the door to her apartment. "I had no idea people liked him that much…"

"Pika…" She agreed, completely exhausted from the day's events.

It was quiet, just what Lys had predicted, but with the added bonus of having to traipse through the entire hospital so that everyone had the chance to see Pikachu was alright for themselves. Lys had to sigh as she suddenly realized that she didn't manage to get very much done today.

"Alright," she straightened. "I managed to get the next three days off from work, so we can find your trainer. Where should we start looking, do you think?"

Having eaten dinner and changed into more comfortable clothes, Lys managed to find a map of the city and laid it out on the floor so that Pikachu didn't have to use much energy into following the plan.

"Should we start back at the Pokemon Center and then go through the park? We can ask if your trainer passed through. Only… What does your Trainer look like?"

Finding some colored pencils and a blank sheet of paper, Pikachu drew a representation of Ash with Lys looking over the mouse's shoulder in thought.

Finishing, she handed it to Lys and yawned slightly.

"Wow," Lys said as she looked over the drawing. "Okay," she nodded, "I'm afraid we'll have to start tomorrow. Oh, and what should the cover story be? There's got to be a reason that I'm looking for him after all. We really shouldn't broadcast the fact that I'm looking to exchange Pokemon."

"Pika chu?" She blinked and tilted her head. 'Exchange Pokemon?'

"Huh?" Grey eyes blinked back. "What?"

With the pencils, she mimed two people exchanging something.

"Yes, that's generally what it means…" Lys still didn't get it.

"Pi," she blew her cheeks out then gestured to the picture of Ash and the colored pencil set-up, before pointing at herself and putting up a claw.

"Wait. Your trainer, exchange… Oh!" Lys put the end of a fist into her flat palm. "You want to know how we can exchange Pikachus if there's only one?"

"Pika!"

"Well, I'll let you in on a little secret," Lys winked and put a finger to her lips as Pikachu leaned forward. "See, sometimes, I have dreams that come true. Last night, I had a dream that my Pikachu was next to a hat with a green stripe in the center and he was riding on the shoulder of someone with black hair. And," she added, again picking up the picture, "they do seem to have a resemblance to your trainer. Ergo, my Pikachu is with your trainer and you are with me."

Pikachu grinned at that. It was nice to know that Ash had another Pikachu to help and, knowing her Pikapi, he _had_ to be on his way to finding her.

"So either way, we'll all end up together," Lys nodded to herself. "So, we have the Center and the park. Where else should we go?"

The pair stayed up another hour or so, before going to bed.

***

The next day, Ash and the others left the Pokemon Center to start looking for Pikachu's trainer and his own Pokemon. Having a starting point in the Center, Pikachu was able to draw a general picture of his Chuka and point them out of town and down the road to Pastendale City.

"Let me get directions this time," Misty ordered the boys as she went to talk to Nurse Joy. "I'll get us there."

Brock and Ash just looked at each other.

Soon, they were on their way out of the city and into the forest that they had come out of days earlier. And just like days earlier…

"HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!"

Ash and Brock sweat dropped as Pikachu questioned their reactions, while Misty had her head back and fingers grasping her short, red hair.

"I _swear_ I had good directions this time! I followed them to the letter!"

Brock sighed. "How is it that every time we end up in this forest, we get lost?"

Pikachu suddenly nodded to himself. He knew the way to Pastendale. Hopping off of Ash's shoulder, he flicked his ears and said, "Pika pichu!"

"Huh?" Ash, Misty, and Brock turned to him. Ash blinked. "You know the way out of here?"

"Pika!" He turned and started to run away into the bushes when all of a sudden a voice rang out.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"Pika?"

"Ugh, not them again!" Misty rolled her eyes.

"Make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation-"

"Team Rocket," Ash growled.

"Hey!" Jessie yelled as she stepped into view. "You're supposed to wait until *after* the motto!"

"Who cares! We're in a hurry!" Misty yelled at them. She growled and called Starmie out. "Starmie, use Water Gun!"

Ash knelt down beside Pikachu. "I know that I'm not your trainer, but can you let me give you instructions?"

The mouse nodded without hesitation. It was the least he could do for the human who really only wanted his own Pikachu back.

"Alright," Ash smiled reassuringly and stood up to face the soaked Team Rocket, who were all complaining about being wet. "Pikachu, Thunder Bolt!"

"PIKA-_CHU_!"

The thin arc of light immediately hit true as the troublesome team was shocked and an explosion clouded the air as the team was tossed into the air, their usual exiting motto echoing through the air.

"Now," Misty recalled her Pokemon and turned back to Pikachu. "Where were we going?"

***

AN: ½ done.

2-22-10


End file.
